


To the Bottom, From the Top

by tighthae



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Magic, mostly everyone is a wizard, they go to a magic university
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 12:25:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15640734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tighthae/pseuds/tighthae
Summary: Just because Dongmin is hot and Jinwoo is in a dry spell doesn't mean he wants to fuck him. Jinwoo doesn't want to  have anything to do with him if he's being honest.





	To the Bottom, From the Top

**Author's Note:**

> found this sitting in my drafts with 3.8k words decided to add another 15k-ish love my magic aus also this isnt proofread bc i dont have time for that expect errors and run on sentences

"Watch out!” Jinwoo hears a voice shout. It’s the last thing he hears before he feels lighting run through his veins and into his heart. Jinwoo felt his skin light on fire and every muscle in his body burn. If he had taken knighthood as his major instead of wizardry he would’ve been dead. 

“Woah, sorry about that!” A man with a gorgeous face and a perfect nose loomed over. “I was aiming for the dude in front of you,” The guy offered Jinwoo his hand. “I’m Seungwoo.”

“Jinwoo.” Jinwoo took his hand and hoisted himself up. Seungwoo studied Jinwoo for a bit and his face switched from intrigued to disinterested. Seungwoo definitely looked like an S, maybe even SS. Definitely not an SSS though and absolutely not even close to an R. Jinwoo didn’t think he gave off the aura of a C. Well, to most uneducated people. At first glance he seems like an A at least, but anyone with a basic grasp on sensing ranks can easily find out he’s a C.

“Well, uh, I’ll see you around Jinwoo,” Seungwoo said, quickly and retreated to his group of friends. Jinwoo hopes that the disappointment on his face isn’t too visible. One of the guys in his circle said something to which he responded with “He’s a C. Not worth it.” Jinwoo sighs and stretches, turning around to view the rest of the campus. The University's annual welcoming festival is in full swing. Wizards were throwing spells around, knights were slicing trainee dummies in half, and archers were shooting apples off live participants. 

“Hey,” Minhyuk basically threw himself onto Jinwoo’s side. “Why do you look so bummed out? Have fun, grab a drink, this is the only time they allow us to have some unsupervised fun.”

“I’m gonna be completely honest with you only came out here because I wanted some dick,” Jinwoo put his finger to Minhyuk’s lips. “And before you even start the sentence I have had no luck. Unless you count the dude that ate me with his eyes but then ditched me because his ranking senses kicked in last minute.”Jinwoo looked up into the sky with the most melodramatic look he could muster, silently cursing whatever divine being decided that this was his fate. All he wanted was to do was complete university and have a boyfriend, but the latter half wasn’t happening with his rank.

“It can’t be that bad. I’m sure there’s tons of people into Cs. And, hey, at least you’re not an E either,” Minhyuk pat Jinwoo on his back. “It could be a lot worse for you.”

“Well, Es and Fs are rarities and I’ve seen lots of them get more action than me. And there’s those weird S and up subs that like being dominated by Es and F, so there’s that. Anyway, what do you need me for? You only talk to me when you want me to do something.” Jinwoo raised an eyebrow at Minhyuk. They were now in a position where they were both looking at the fountain, side by side, with their arms linked. Anyone could’ve mistaken them for a couple.

“I wanna go see the clubs do their performances but I don’t wanna go alone. The As and everyone above that are making their rounds trying to find freshmen and sophomores to hook up with. We already look like we’re dating so you might as well take me to the gym so we can see it. Maybe you’ll meet someone who’ll actually give you the time of day and a handy!” Minhyuk began to tug Jinwoo in the direction of the gym. 

“You ungrateful little SS. If I were you I would be stuffing my mouth with-”

Minhyuk covered Jinwoo’s mouth. “I get it you’re horny and the hierarchy of ranks makes you have to work for a good fuck. I don’t want to hear about it. Like I said, I’m sure there’s plenty on Cs that are tops in the gym that you can hook up with after.” 

“I’m a top.” Jinwoo insisted.

“Sure, and so am I,” Minhyuk tugged Jinwoo’s arm again. “Come on, I want to get a front row seat.”

The gym was hot. The technicians, they didn’t like being called air wizards or whatever, hadn’t fixed the ventilation system over summer for some deity forsaken reason. The whole building reeked of sweat and ass and axe and Jinwoo was trying to not suffocate under the smell of it all. The gym was almost at capacity, unfortunately, but most of the bleachers had unoccupied front rows. The middle bleachers were the most crowded. Lower ranks liked to congregate with the higher ranks. In the center was usually were people who were SS or up sat and those people were always surrounded by anyone that was a rank lower. It was bad thing because of the social implications that if you were a higher rank you were better but it meant there was more space in the front so Jinwoo didn’t vocalize complaints or preach about injustice. The duo took a seat in the very front like Minhyuk had wanted.

The university’s welcoming festival always had the club showcase. Jinwoo didn’t know why, most of the clubs in the school exist just to exist and a good majority don’t really do anything. Jinwoo assumes it’s because people need to feel like they belong somewhere. Clubs were pretty easy to join to. Some of them had rank requirements and other had weird initiation things, like the occult club, but others were just sign up and join. Jinwoo is starting to think this whole thing was justification as to why there are so many useless clubs compared to the ones that seem viable. Jinwoo mentally sighed and pushed those thoughts to the back of his head and attempted to be interested in the performances.

Opening up was the arcane club. Jinwoo thought they were about to make a human sacrifice when the gym filled with fog and a few hooded figures emerged. They threw off their cloaks and began to perform a dance number. The competition must be really tough this year if this is the extent clubs have to go to. I guess attracting new students was as hard as it sounded. The rest were showcases by the occult club, Jinwoo doesn’t know the difference between them and the arcane club, the nature club, the glee club which Jinwoo thought was a weird thing to have in a magic university, and some other clubs Jinwoo tuned out because he decided to stay true to himself and lose interest during the middle. Minhyuk seemed to be enjoying the show though. Especially when the monster hunting club took stage. Minhyuk couldn’t take his eyes of the president, Moon Bin, and he was making it painfully obvious.

 

“This is why you dragged me here? So you could stare at that guy.” Jinwoo pointed towards Moon Bin

Minhyuk quickly smacked Jinwoo’s hand. “Don’t point, you’re gonna make it obvious.”

“The fact that your eyes stayed on his dick print for the entire thing was enough indication. I’m sure everyone in the surrounding area saw you,” Jinwoo stretched. “Now that you saw the guy can we go. I’m hungry as shit.”

“I guess,” Minhyuk mumbled. “You’re no fun. All you do is complain about how you never get laid then say you’re hungry. This is why I don’t hang out with you.”

“Please continue to not hang out with me. I’d rather be in the dorms than out here doing nothing,” Jinwoo said as they got up and made their way to the exit. “Do you think if I strangle Sanha he’ll buy me a sandwich?” Minhyuk’s response was interrupted by a sudden darkness. Someone had either turned off the lights manually or the gym was finally to starting to show its age. As expected, gasps and immature screams filled the immediate area followed by complaints and groans. Apparently, people were excited for the final act of the day. Jinwoo was about to pull Minhyuk through the darkness and hope that there were no obstacles in the way. Then the lights came back on. In the middle of the gym stood a cloaked figure. Whoever it was didn’t have a cultist outfit on but had a coat wrapped around them, like a vampire. The crowd went wild. Jinwoo assumes this guy was the final act. 

A loud bang and they was gone. The audience went wild once again. Another bang and a blast of smoke and they reappeared. They had their hood off now and it revealed that they were a he, presumably. He also had an apple in his hand for whatever reason. Jinwoo didn’t think he needed to hold out the apple as dramatically as he did but the audience seemed to love everything the boy did. The boy placed his free hand on top of the apple and slowly began to retract both of his hand. The apple was floating, Jinwoo had seen crazier. Minhyuk made it seem like he hasn’t experienced crazier than this and sat Jinwoo down. The magician turned his hand so that they were now horizontal. Stretching his hands out, he made the apple bigger. Now that was something Jinwoo hasn’t seen. The crowd proved that they could get louder and screamed as the apple increased in size. Dramatically, the boy quickly clapped his hands together and acted like that simple stunt had drained all his energy. Opening his hands, the apple was gone. Everyone in the bleachers, including Minhyuk, stood up and gave him a round of applause.

“Please join the illusionary club!” The boy smiled and bowed. Jinwoo knows that club is going to be the one that reaches capacity the quickest. 

“I’m still starving by the way!” Jinwoo yelled to Minhyuk as everyone began to leave the bleachers. “Let’s go! This was a waste of my time.”

“Jinwoo!” A familiar high pitched voice called. “We need some water mages help mop the floors and stuff. You have any free time?” Jimin asked.

“No-”

“They’re gonna have food for anyone who volunteers to help.” Jimin said quickly. 

“Alright, bye Minhyuk,” Jinwoo pat the boy’s back and went to the shorter girl’s side. “I’ve got my maid outfit on now. Go see if you can join the monster hunting club or whatever. Maybe you’ll get that one dude’s autograph or something.”

Jinwoo channeled as much energy as he could into his fingertips and blasted the floors with a high pressure jet of water. It instantly cut through any dry grime that a sacrifice or a hunting example left as proof of its existence. It was kind of gross but it looked really satisfying. Using water magic was also easier than the mopping that knights or archers or hunters usually do and he was getting free food after so Jinwoo was it enjoying the task thoroughly.

“Jimin,” Jinwoo called while summoning a giant torrent of water to hose down the wall. “Who was that guy at the end? The handsome one everyone was cheering for.”

“You don’t know Dongmin?” Jimin asked. She was pushing gusts of winds towards Jinwoo to dry the walls. “He’s really popular. He’s in the year below us. Made a big name for himself last year as a freshmen.”

“Because he’s a pretty boy?” Jinwoo asked.

“Well, yea. And he’s the first U we’ve gotten in a while. The last one was Seolhyun during our freshmen year.” Jimin was struggling to her jean skirt to not reveal everything.

“A U, huh?” Jinwoo scoffed. “Lucky bastard. I’m guessing he’s a spatialist by all the thingies he did to that apple.”

“Yep,” Jimin nodded. “Reality manipulation. That’s already an R magic so it was easy for him to get through L and jump straight to U by just training.”

“If only it were that easy to get from C to B.” Jinwoo sighed.

“You got from D to C. There’s no reason that you can’t go from C to B just as easy. You’re just lazy. You’re one of the best water mages I’ve seen. People always mistake you for an A because they sense the untapped potential. For someone who’s always complaining about never getting laid you sure don’t put in the effort to try and put yourself out there for people.” Jimin folded her arms.

“Everyday you prove that you’re a dumbass. You do realize that there’s a problem in grooming yourself for other people. Being born with a low rank and working yourself up to a higher rank just so someone might possibly like you is problematic,” Jinwoo walked up to the girl and poked her forehead hard. “Not everyone can be born with an A trait like lightning or something.”

“Whatever,” Jimin stretched and sighed. “You can continue being an independent loser without a love life while I enjoy mine. I think we’re done here. One of the freshmen will lock up. I hope the shitty sandwiches were worth the work.”

“There’s still a few stains here and there,” Jinwoo pointed to the smaller specks across the gym floor. “Go ahead with everyone else. Tell them I’ll lock up and I’m not responsible if they get stuck in here somehow.”

“Suit yourself.” Jimin turned around and waved him off dismissively.

Jinwoo liked cleaning. His magic kind of made it easy so why not make it hobby. Cleaning always took his mind off things. The thought of how he was going through a dry spell and the thoughts of how he probably won’t get over it unless it’s with some other desperate loser like himself. Loser sex is not fun, Jinwoo can vouch for that from experience. So, Jinwoo opted with cleaning as a sexual frustration outlet. It’s nice to pretend the little specks on the ground were tiny civilizations that Jinwoo could play god with. With just a point of his finger the whole thing was obliterated. Was that a sign of sociopathic behavior? Jinwoo hopes not. It was just a tiny power trip to alleviate the stress that’s been building up from the usual stress a university students get and being horny. 

Jinwoo’s wrists and arms were aching after he finished cleaning every single corner of the gym. Jinwoo didn’t realize he needed an air mage to dry the whole thing down until he slipped and landed flat on his ass. Maybe becoming an ice mage wasn’t such a bad idea now. Sighing, Jinwoo got up and hoped that no one would think he shit himself or anything. It was already dark so Jinwoo knew he wouldn’t run into too many people but knowing his luck he was going to see at least one person of relevance in soaking, wet, pants. Locking up the gym, Jinwoo made his way down the corridor. A very dark, eerily quiet, and ominous corridor. If Jinwoo wasn’t attending a university specializing in a higher understanding of magic he wouldn’t be scared of the dark. Too bad that isn’t the case. The ghosts like to travel through the halls at night and the necromancers don’t care enough to sweep them up since they were considered low threats. Jinwoo thinks any type of ghost is bad news. 

Maybe it was just in his head, but Jinwoo heard the sounds of tiny feet scuffling along the floor. Or was it the ceiling? Jinwoo didn’t know and he didn’t like the sound of it either. Jinwoo began to pick up his pace, hoping the exit to the building was closer; Jinwoo would definitely bring this up to the dean since this is most definitely a fire hazard. Jinwoo’s walk soon turned into a walk-run and he felt like he was almost at salvation as the skittering inevitable got closer and closer. Until he hit a roadblock. Then he felt something small and tiny land on his head. Jinwoo knew that fortune would never be good to him. Jinwoo was very close to letting out the most embarrassing screech.

“Salamanders don’t like loud noises,” A voice warned him. “Stay still,” Jinwoo felt the little, webbed, feet of the salamander leave the nest it was about to make in his hair. The mysterious figure held out a hand. Jinwoo took it. “Didn’t know the gym was open this late.” Jinwoo still couldn’t see his face, there was no place for the moonlight to enter.

“It’s not,” Jinwoo said, brushing off his joggers. “I just had to clean it after the festival and whatever. The clubs make a mess trying to justify why they receive funding. Anyway why are you in here.”

“Thought I left my phone in the gym but you probably would’ve seen it if you cleaned the gym.” The person explained.

“You already think I’m trustworthy and you can’t even see my face,” Jinwoo clicked his tongue. “Anyway, let's go. The exit is right down there. 

The two made it out of the gym unharmed, the salamander in hand. Once outside, the guy crouched down and left the salamander skitter off to wherever it belonged. Jinwoo was glad to see it gone. “I guess the monster hunting club didn’t check to see if all of the species they showed off were contained. A shame that they box those little things up,” The guy turned towards Jinwoo and Jinwoo was hoping he wasn’t gaping. Jinwoo recognized him from the final performance and he was a lot more handsome when you weren’t a few feet away. “I’m Dongmin.” He stuck out his hand.

“I’m Jinwoo,” Jinwoo took his hand a shook it. “I already knew who you were though. Good looking, tall, friendly, your traits all point to U. Also, the fact that you were the last dude in the showcase stuff gave away your rank. Where did that apple go by the way? That’s a waste of food.”

“You think I’m good looking?” Dongmin raised an eyebrow.

“Do you think you’re ugly? Are you manipulating your face so that you appear good looking? That’s a good trick, you should pass that down to your kids since they’ll be ugly too.” 

Dongmin laughed out loud. “No, but it’s the first time someone’s told me to my face without stuttering or anything. Well, the first time an A has. Usually, Bs and below don’t really care about ranks and stuff. As are the ones that get giddy over things like that.”

“Well, I’m a C. Surprise.” Jinwoo did jazz hands.

“C?” Dongmin looked very confused “Your aura gives off the potential of an A though. Maybe even S if I didn’t know any better.” 

“I hear that a lot. I don’t give a shit about the ranks hierarchy. I could be an A, but what’s the point? Yea, I can breathe underwater and communicate with fish but that’s only materialistic stuff. And if I want to get to S I have to be proficient in ice magic which requires me to learn air magic. I’m too lazy,” Jinwoo folded his arms. “Anyway, I’m tired as shit and I have classes tomorrow. The U dorms are right by the C-B dorms, walk with me.” Jinwoo turned on his heels and began walking, he didn’t care if Dongmin followed him or not. 

“You’re a pretty cool guy, Jinwoo.” Dongmin commented as they neared the dorms. The two had filled the night air with small talk about nothing. They didn’t have a lot in common, Jinwoo wasn’t surprised but tall, powerful, and handsome had a nice speaking voice so he let Dongmin talk about things he liked. Jinwoo didn’t have much to say, it’s not like he has a lot of hobbies. Rap was his favorite type of music but Dongmin probably expected that from every college student who wore joggers and a hoodie.

“Cool?” Jinwoo asked. “People usually call me a hippie. They think my opinions on the rank are too ‘progressive’ and I should get over it. I can’t help that I’m independent though. Although, it’ll be hard to find a rich guy to latch onto in my current state. Do you know any R and ups who have those things for doms that are B and below?”

Dongmin laughed for the upteenth time. “I’ll take you up on the rich guy offer. Don’t know about the wanting to be dominated though.” 

“You haven’t even known me for a day and you’re already flirting with me. All you Us are the same.” Jinwoo chided. 

“I can’t help it you’re likable.” Dongmin shrugged.

Jinwoo placed his hand on his shoulder. “To be honest, we aren’t going to talk after this. You should get over me now, okay? Don’t get my hopes up,” Jinwoo pat Dongmin’s shoulder. “Good night.”

 

✵

“Jinwoo!” Someone was pounding on Jinwoo’s door at a time before his alarm clock went off. They either had a death wish or something very important to say. For the sake of the person at the door, Jinwoo hoped it was the latter. “Jinwoo! Open the door! I’ve got some news but we gotta get breakfast first!” It was Sanha. The nosy little guy always seemed to have something to report to him. 

“There’s no point in telling me news if you aren’t going to tell me immediately, little boy!” Jinwoo yelled as he pulled himself out from the covers. “Just tell me and I’ll buy you whatever you want from the cafeteria,” Jinwoo made his way over to his door. He was lucky to get a single. It was his 4th year in the university and he was the only one in his class to still be a C rank. Meaning he was head of the dorm and got his room. “What do you want? You don’t have friends or anything? Go bother Bin.” Jinwoo replied through an ever-so-slightly, ajar, door.

“The good news is that they’re finally serving breakfast foods until the end of lunch!” The giant baby yelled, trying to squeeze through the tight space Jinwoo was providing. 

“Goodbye, Sanha.” Jinwoo said as he began to shut the door. Sanha would have to step out of the silver of door frame that was exposed or die trying to get inside and raid Jinwoo’s dressers for food.

“Wait! Yooyoung also told me that she appointed you to demonstrate water magic to the freshmen. So, that means that we have to eat breakfast and report to the gym immediately! We can’t create a demonstration of your fantastic powers! Also, before you ask, she chose you because you need to get off your ass and do something with your university life.”

Jinwoo stopped pushing the door. “And why do you need to come?”

“I volunteered as your assistant! We’re gonna have so much fun, I know it! Now, let’s go get breakfast, I’m starving.”

Jinwoo rolled his eyes and stepped out of the dorm, there was not point in arguing with Sanha since his voice would just overpower Jinwoo’s. “No, I don’t plan on changing out of my pajamas so don’t bug me about it, okay? Let’s just eat and go tell Yooyoung that I am not gonna demonstrate how to use water with a sonimancer.” 

“What’s wrong with sonimancers?” Sanha pointed as he followed Jinwoo down the hall.

“I didn’t say anything bad about sonimancers did I? Just use your brain for a second. How am I, a aquamancer, gonna demonstrate how to use torrents of whatever with someone who’s magic revolves around sound? Did you not think this through? I know you’re excited to participate in things because it’s your second year and all. It would’ve been better if you teamed up with a glainne.”

“What’s that.”

“A glass mage.” Jinwoo replied as the pair began to make their way down the stairwell.   
“We have glass mages?” Sanha asked, surprise showing in his eyes. “There’s a mage for everything.”

“We don’t have glass mages in the way you think we do. A glainne is a spatialist who has mastered geomancy enough to delve into the various properties rocks and dirt on have. In this case, glainnes specifically master the art of sand. This means they can manipulate the properties of sand to create glass,” Jinwoo didn’t even know if Sanha was listening at this point. “It’s a really niche type of mage but there’s one or two of them that attend this uni.”

“See, this is why Yooyoung wanted you to demonstrate your water magic. You know so much about magic but you don’t even apply it to your own magic. I bet you even know the specializations for sonimancers!” Sanha seemed genuinely surprised at the amount of knowledge Jinwoo had of magic.

“A virtuoso, a banshee, an instrumentum, the list goes on and on.” Jinwoo said.

“You know, people would like you more if you helped them out with their research papers on magic theories and stuff. Maybe you weren’t meant to be an aquamancer. Maybe you were meant to be an archivist or something! Wouldn’t that be cool? Working with tomes and stuff?” Sanha was practically bouncing off the walls as they made their way outside. The campus wasn’t lively today since it was an early morning on a weekday. Archers had set up their practice targets on the grass and were making rounds, knights were doing the same thing but with swords, and the mages were practicing whatever type of magic they were attuned to. Jinwoo admitted that the scenery was nice, it looked like something you’d seen in an ad for the school. He’d still rather be inside though. 

“What’s the fun in sorting through ancient relics all day? I like the various types of magic that exist, I don’t wanna know where the come from. So many archivist go insane when they find out the ‘true’ origin of magic. Haven’t you heard the stories. All of the people say that some great alien gods granted power to the most primal of beings. We have the more tamed version of what they used to have. Like how dogs used to be wolves and cats used to be cheetahs and shit.” Jinwoo wasn’t even sure what he was saying at this point. Whenever Jinwoo talked with Sanha, he became comfortable and started ranting about all the stuff he has learned or heard. 

“You’re weird,” Sanha replied and laughed. “I’d like to know where magic came from. I wanna know how Dongmin could do all the crazy stuff to an apple. I wonder where the apple went. Those are the answers I’m seeking.” 

“You know, it’s funny,” Jinwoo said. “I asked him the exact same question. I didn’t even get a response.”

“You’ve talked to him?” Sanha asked. “You guys are friends? Minhyuk told me you were zoning out half way through the performances. I thought you might have missed his.”

“The ominous lighting and the cloak took me out of my daydream. We talked for a little bit after I was done cleaning up. He thought he left his phone in the gym or something. He completely avoided the question though. Do you think it’s a spatialist secret? I kind of want to be in on it.”

“Me too! But, let’s save the conspiracies for later now that we’re at the cafeteria. Minhyuk told me he saved us a seat.”

Just like the rest of the deity forsaken campus, the cafeteria was picture perfect. Groups of friends were laughing, loners were taking advantage of the free wifi, and people were giggling and point at people who were ranked SSS or higher. It was sickening to look at. Well, the giggling people not the people who were minding their business. Of course, just as Lady Luck would have it, Dongmin was seated in the cafeteria. Jinwoo hadn’t seen him lurking around the cafeteria before, maybe it was his spatial magic at work. It would be less of a problem to see him if Jinwoo hadn’t insisted that they would never see each other again like he was terminally ill or something. Sorting through his thoughts, Jinwoo allowed Sanha to drag him through the cafeteria to meet Minhyuk.

“Hi, Minhyuk!” Sanha greeted as he sat down. “I brought Jinwoo along with me, we have somewhere to be later. I hope you don’t mind.”

“As long as he’s not in a bad mood then he can stay,” Minhyuk replied, picking at his food. “I can’t stand this guy when he’s angry. You know, it’s not good to vent your frustration on your friends!”

“I’m guessing that joining the monster hunting club didn’t go as planned?” Jinwoo said, taking a seat too. “Sanha, go get your food and get me some oatmeal and juice,” Jinwoo handed Sanha his meal card. “The adults are talking. I see that things didn’t go your way,” Jinwoo remarked. “By the way, can you tell them to double check after they clean up? A salamander was skittering through the hallways after the showcase, I could’ve gotten fried.”

“No, you wanna know why I won’t ask them? Because I’m never stepping foot in that clubroom again! I don’t think I can show my face at school either, it’s to embarrassing. I’m gonna have to change my name, get plastic surgery, dye my hair, and move to another country.” Minhyuk sighed and hung his head.

“You’re being dramatic. How bad could it have been? Were you afraid of the monsters? I feel like that should just be a common thing for a rookie to go through. We can’t all be brave, you know. I almost shit myself when that salamander landed on my head.” 

“Thanks for comforting me, Jinwoo. I really appreciate it. But this was beyond embarrassing,” Minhyuk surveyed the cafeteria, presumably, to see if anyone was watching them. Then, Minhyuk leaned over the table and beckoned Jinwoo to do the same. “So, Seolhyun was there. I didn’t even know she was in the club, naturally, I had to show her up. Druids have great compatibility with animals and stuff so I thought I could tame whatever they threw at me. Apparently, I can’t speak to reptiles. The salamander basically burned all of my clothes up.”

“So, you were naked or what? I don’t think being exposed in front of people is a big deal, now maybe he wants to fuck you. Remember when Dongwoo went streaking across campus. Do you know how many people wanted to get in his pants?” Jinwoo took a seat. “Don’t worry too much about it. If you’re that desperate, I can just get a chronomancer to erase their memories.”

“Chronomancers can erase memories?” Minhyuk asked, obviously intrigued at Jinwoo’s offer.

“Well, memoirs can. The journalism club has a bunch of them. That’s how they can keep track of so many events and stories. They just have to touch someone’s head to extract a memory. It works the same way with erasing them.” 

“So, theoretically, if I gave you a list of names, you’d be able to erase the memories of everyone who saw me naked?” Minhyuk asked.

“Yes, in theory. But, you’d owe me. Big time. I don’t know what I’ll have to do to get a memoir to agree to help me but I’m willing to do it for one of my favorite juniors.” Jinwoo placed his hand on his heart.

“I’ll buy you food everyday so you won’t have to use your meal card.” Minhyuk offered.

“Deal.” Jinwoo nodded in agreement.

“You guys are having a really animated conversation,” Sanha said as he put the food on the table. “Are you talking about how you met Dongmin and how he wouldn’t tell you where the apple went?”

“You talked to Dongmin? Why didn’t you tell me! This could be your chance-”

“Cool it,” Jinwoo cut Minhyuk off. “All he did was save me from a salamander attack and then he walked me home. Nothing more, nothing less. We didn’t have anything in common. So, don’t expect much. I even told him we probably won’t see each other.”

“He’s right there tho-”

“You know what I meant. Don’t be obtuse,” Jinwoo said, slapping Sanha’s hand. “Anyway, let’s eat quick. I don’t want Yooyoung to beat me up for being late.” 

The trio enjoyed their meal in mostly silence. If you ignored the sound of Jinwoo and Sanha scarfing down their food then it was mostly silent. “Alright, we’ll see you whenever, Minhyuk,” Jinwoo waved as he got up with his tray. “And no I won’t forget our little deal and I’ll try to work to the best of my ability to make it happen okay?”

The walk from the cafeteria to the gym wasn’t as long as the walk from the dorm to the cafeteria. Like most schools, the cafeteria and the gym were put in close proximity to each other. This made it easier on Jinwoo since he had done enough walking today to last him for the next two weeks. If Yooyoung had just chosen a U aquamancer like any other sensible person would’ve done Jinwoo wouldn’t have to put up with all the walking. It’s not like Jinwoo could show off much anyway since he hadn’t specialized. Water specializations were one of the most boring specializations anyway. You could become a cryomancer, a scryer, or a starglobe. The only cool one was being able to look into the future with scrying but Jinwoo didn’t have the patience to become a glainne. Maybe this was a trap to get Jinwoo to specialize. “Tell me again why Yooyoung wanted me to come. Out of all the people that could come she chose me.”

“Something about untapped potential. Don’t people tell you that a lot? Maybe you should tap your potential! It’s about time for you to specialize. You can’t just be an aquamancer forever. You could be a starglobe! They sound cool.” Sanha chimed.

“All starglobes do is predict the movement of the moon and the stars to look out for prophecies and to tell farmers when it’s the best time to plant a certain crop? Does that sound fun to you, Sanha? Life would be so much easier for me if I was a sonimancer. I could become a rapper more easily if I had a nice voice.” 

“You don’t need to be a sonimancer to make it in show business. Look at Myungjun! He’s not a mage at all and he’s a pretty popular singer on campus.” Sanha pointed out.

“That’s because he’s talented,” Jinwoo pointed out. “If I specialize I lose. My parents have been on my ass abou specializing since I’m in the prestigious university there is in the realm. But that’s so dumb. Just because I can specialize doesn’t mean I should? What’s wrong with wanting to stay an aquamancer?” 

“Well,” Sanha began. “Your job opportunities are lessened. If you were a starglobe you’re guaranteed a job at the observatory and if you were a cryomancer you could keep global warming in check. Right now, the best job you can get is filtering the aqueducts and plumbing. I mean, it’s not like those are bad things but you’re talented and have also been studying here for four years. It’ll be a waste if you’re just regulating pips for the rest of your live, you know?” Sanha shrugged. “That’s my two cents on it. Anyway, let’s go say hi to Yooyoung. I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

“Count yourself lucky.” Jinwoo mumbled.

The gym was already filled with mages, knights, and archers of each kind. The festival would conclude with the demonstration of various specializations for each talent. So, naturally, the gym was already filled to the brim with various types of students. Most of the people were in Jinwoo’s year or higher. Surprisingly, some of the people were younger than Jinwoo. Lately, the university had been accepting a lot of students with very niche and unique abilities. A polymorph was recently admitted to mage sector, Jinwoo thinks her name is was Hyeyeon or something, and had been the talk of the campus since she had been admitted. It was obvious that the dean was pushing for more diversity in magic which was the whole point of this thing. Obviously, he couldn’t leave the knights and the archers out so the few specializations for their department where invited to show the kids that people without magic abilities were just as fun.

“There’s a lot of people here.” Jinwoo commented.

“Yep. I guess the dean had to be inclusive. I think it’s fun though. Showing off all our abilites and stuff. You’ll definitely be able to impress someone and get laid-”

“Jinwoo, Sanha!” Yooyoung called. “I’m surprised you were able to drag him here,” Yooyoung pat Sanha on the back. “Good job. Now for you,” She turned to Jinwoo. “I bet you’re wondering why I chose you to come here. I was kind of wondering that myself since you’ve proven time and time again that you’re an unmotivated, sorry excuse, for a student. But then I realized how much potential you have. You clean the gym all by your and summoning water without a water source is already an A trait. If you specialized you definitely be S.”

“Can you get to the point.” Jinwoo groaned.

“You are the perfect model for what not to do as a student. You have all this talent and power at your fingertip but you’re too lazy to use it because you want to justice for the ranks or whatever. Yea, I agree, ranks aren’t all they’re cracked up to be but you shouldn’t hinder your progress to become a powerful mage just because you think something is bad. Sometimes, the only way you can stop something is to become a part of it. So, you’re going to show the students what you’ll be if you decide to not specialize and improve,” Yooyoung continued. “It’ll be a perfect way to get students motivated.”

“Gee, thanks,” Jinwoo rolled his eyes. “Is Sanha supposed to be my assistant?” Jinwoo asked. “Because I’m not sure if we could team up well. Sound and water don’t really combine to make anything spectacular.”

“Sanha is teaming up with a more experienced sonimancer to show off what you can and can’t do before specializing.” Yooyoung replied, beckoning for the two to follow her.

“Do I have to team up with a junior too, then?”

“You have the skill of a junior so why would you team up with someone? You’re just gonna show the foundations of water magic and how sad it’ll be if you don’t live up to your full potential.” Yooyoung replied.  
“Being passive aggressive won’t make me choose a specialization.” Jinwoo said.

“It was worth a shot,” Yooyoung shrugged and stopped at a spot that was relatively empty. “Jinwoo, you’re gonna practice here. I’m not gonna hold your hand while you come up with a demonstration. Just cover the basics. How water magic works and how it evolves as you become more proficient with it. Don’t embarrass me. I won’t allow elemental magic to be looked down on for being ‘boring’ this year. You've got the whole year to perfect the demonstration. We’re showing it to the next batch of freshmen that are coming in. It better be perfect, I’m counting on you to bring up our specialization rate. No pressure though!” Yooyoung was already walking away with Sanha as she waved goodbye to Jinwoo.

Water magic was one of four foundation magics to elemental magic. It was one of the easiest of the elements to pick up but was definitely the hardest to master. To have a basic grasp of water magic was to have a basic grasp on control. Water is very hard to contain, if there one small crack it will all seep out, little by little. Water is also hard to tame. Just like how a snowball can easily turn into an avalanche, a wave can, just as easily, turn into a tsunami. Knowing how to persuade water to do what you want it to was the hard part. But how does someone demonstrate that? Jinwoo had no clue, he had stopped using his critical thinking skills as soon as he had graduated high school. The best way would be to bring those metaphors to life for everyone to see. 

“You look really focused.” A voice had broken into his thoughts and pried him right out of them.

Jinwoo turned around to face the person. As he expected, Dongmin was standing right behind him beaming. “Yea, I kinda need to focus if I want to make a competent demonstration and all.” Jinwoo made a vague gesture. 

“I thought you said you were a C? Unless you were lying to me to avoid me. That was a lame excuse. Us and Cs could get along just fine, I’m assuming you thought that would drive me away.”

“I am a C. Yooyoung just wanted me to be an example of how not to spend your time in the university. Everyone’s always telling me I have potential and what not. She knows I could be a higher rank if I wanted to but I chose not to. Apparently, that’s not what you’re supposed to do when you attend the university. She thinks I can motivate the students to reach their potential or whatever. I’m guessing you’re representing spatialists?.” 

“You don’t give me the aquamancer vibe,” Dongmin nodded slowly and looked him up and down. “You also didn’t give me the C rank vibe but I guess I was half right about that.”

“So you’re just gonna ignore one of my questions again?” Jinwoo raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean again?” Dongmin leaned in. Jinwoo wasn’t sure if he was teasing him or not.

“I asked where the apple went yesterday and you didn’t even answer me. Is it a secret? Am I not allowed to know where it goes? I guess spatialists really do think they’re something special. Keeping secrets from everyone and all that.”

“Well, if you really want to know,” Dongmin mimicked the motion that Minhyuk had done in the cafeteria. Jinwoo obliged, intrigued. “Pocket dimension.”

Jinwoo took a step back, disappointed. “Really? A pocket dimension? That’s it? Not even a completely different dimension? Just a tiny little pocket dimension. You really had my hopes up there for a second.” Jinwoo sighed. 

“You know about pocket dimensions?” Dongmin looked genuinely surprised.

“Of course I know about pocket dimensions. I thought it was some super secret thing. You really are like every other R and up here, aren’t you? And here I thought we could’ve been good friends or something. What a waste.”

“We can still be good friends even if you think I’m some stereotypical popular guy.” Jinwoo’s ears perked at the sound of popular.

“That’s right! You are popular,” Dongmin looked surprised at Jinwoo’s sudden revelation. “Do you know a chronomancer by any chance? Preferably a memoir. And a good one. At least an L. You’re the poster boy for being a U I know you have connections. I need one of them to help a friend out.”

“I might know a memoir or two? What’s it to you and this ‘friend’?” Dongmin pried.

“Don’t question my credibility. Some people saw one of my juniors naked and he’s on the verge of dying of embarrassment. I promised him that I’d solve the problem somehow and since memoirs can erase memories and all that stuff I was wondering if one of them would like to be of service to me and my friend,” Jinwoo explained. “Actually, I don’t even have to justify my actions to you. Just show me where I can find a memoir and I’ll get out of your hair for a bit.”

“You do realize that erasing people’s memories without their consent is against one the codes of magic, right?” Dongmin raised an eyebrow.

“Yea, so?”

“You’re willing to break an important rule to help your friend?”

“Yes,” Jinwoo groaned. “It’s not that big of a deal. You’re being dramatic. Removing one, insignificant, memory shouldn’t even be against the code. Do chronomancers even care about the codes of magic anyway? They can control time and stuff who gives a fuck?”

Dongmin laughed out loud. “Yea, I guess you’re right about that. You owe me though.”

“Oh boy,” Jinwoo sighed. “I’ve seen enough dramas to know where this is going. You’re gonna want me to be your servant a 100 days, right? Or do you want me to be your little errand boy or something? You know, being a servant doesn’t sound too bad. I’ve been told I can mop floors pretty well. Water magic and all. And if you want money I’ll just have to ask someone else because I’ve been running low on cash since the start of the semester. Actually, speaking of that. Minhyuk said that he would buy all my meals if I was able to do this. If you were to help me I’m sure there’d be plenty of free meals in it for you as well. I saw you in the cafeteria earlier so I know you’re not one of those people who think they’re too good for the food that the uni serves. What do you say?” 

Dongmin laughed out loud again. “I was just gonna ask for you to help me come up with a demonstration for spatial magic. But, those other options do sound really intriguing. I like the free food one the most contrary to your beliefs.”

“You’re going to try to mooch off my Minhyuk? I don’t think so,” Jinwoo shook his head. “You’re a U and you’re good looking. How many people offer to buy lunch for you? Be honest. I know it’s a lot. When I walked into the cafeteria I saw lots of people surrounding you with food so you can pass on that offer. I’ll definitely help you with your demonstration though.”

“You think I’m the boring, typical, one but you don’t even wanna be my slave for 100 days? I think you’re the boring one.” Dongmin teased.

“You got me there,” Jinwoo shrugged. “What were you thinking of doing for your demonstration.”

“Well, I’m a U, if you haven’t noticed. So, I would like to show off all the magic I have to offer. Making an apple disappear was only the most basic form of spatial magic. Making a human disappear would be something to show though, don’t you think? Now that you owe me a favor you can’t back down.” Dongmin pointed out.

“So, you want to send me to the pocket dimension for the sake of entertaining some kids?” Jinwoo folded his arms. “I can’t help but think this is a trick to get me trapped somewhere so you can actually make me your slave for eternity.” 

“As appealing as that sounds,” Dongmin laughed. “Pocket dimensions only last for so long.”

“So, you’re trying to kill me? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes.”

Jinwoo couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Fine, you have a deal, I guess. But, you also have to pay for my funeral expenses. You know you can turn your ashes into a vinyl these days? I think I want to do that instead of the normal urn thing. I think urns are easier for reanimations though.”

“If you’re asking if I would visit you through a seance then yes I’d do that too.” Dongmin smiled.

✵

“Jinwoo was getting cozy with Dongmin during the meeting for demonstrations.” Sanha blurted out over dinner.

“Oh my god,” Jinwoo rolled his eyes. “No I wasn’t I was asking if he knew any chronomancers so I could erase a few memories here and there and he did,” Jinwoo pointed his fork at Minhyuk. “You’re welcome. You owe me. Big time. I actually had to have a conversation with the guy.”

“You looked like you were enjoying.” Sanha mumbled. 

“He probably was enjoying it,” Minhyuk laughed. “He’s starved for attention and sex and a tall, handsome, U rank gives him it and he’s head over heels. I bet they’ll start dating next month. Jinwoo will put out on the first date too. That’s what’s gonna seal the deal. This guy is pretty easy-”

“We get it!” Jinwoo said through gritted teeth. 

“Geez, I was just joking!” Minhyuk laughed. “No need to throw a fit over it.”

“I’m the easy one but you already showed Moon Bin everything.” Jinwoo chided.

“Hey! I almost forgot about the incident and now I want to fucking die again,” Minhyuk stabbed his chopsticks into his bowl of rice. “Thanks a lot. I hope you’re happy. You’re not invited to my funeral, I hope you know that.”

“Look at you, being dramatic,” Jinwoo reached over and ruffled Minhyuk’s hair. “It’s okay you have a nice body I’m sure he enjoyed looking.”

“Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No.”

“Look on the bright side,” Sanha said. “When you and Moon Bin get together then you guys can have double dates with Jinwoo and Dongmin. It’ll be cute!”

“Thanks but no thanks,” Jinwoo said with his mouth full of food. “I would rather just be good friends with Dongmin. I won’t gain anything from dating him. Also, the chances of him liking me out of however many qualified people there are on campus are slim to none.” 

“So, you’ve been thinking about the probability of you guys getting together?” Sanha teased. “It sounds like someone has been thinking about dating a U rank. I think you should go for it.” Sanha nodded to himself.

“I heard it was big.” Minhyuk had returned to his normal state.

“Is it?” Sanha asked. “I think that’s a bit unfair though. I feel like if you’re tall, handsome, and powerful you have to be humbled somewhere. It’s not like he has a nasty personality either so there has to be some negative aspect about him. Wouldn’t it make sense for it to be small? Then Jinwoo would realistically have a chance since his is pretty decent.”

“You’ve seen his?” 

“He left his door unlocked one time and I didn’t know he slept naked during the spring. Jinwoo has a nice body too!”

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” Jinwoo cut the conversation short.

“But I think the rumors are true,” Minhyuk continued. “I don’t think he sleeps around a lot but the few people that claimed he’s done it with them say the same thing each time. I think it’s credible.”

“What do you think, Jinwoo? Does he give off that aura? That energy.” Sanha nudged Jinwoo’s side with elbow.

“I know you didn’t just try to coax me into saying he has big dick ener- You know what? I’m not doing this. Not tonight! I’ve got classes in the morning and I can only handle so much bullshit until I snap.” Jinwoo was preparing to leave the cafeteria.

Minhyuk pulled him back down into his seat. “Don’t be so grouchy. It was just a joke. We have bigger things to worry about. For example, we have to figure out a way to extract a certain memory from certain people,” Minhyuk took a piece of paper out of his pocket and slapped it onto the table. “I got all the names down. All the people that know what my butt looks like.”

“I already told you, it’s under control. For the most part,” Jinwoo took the paper Minhyuk handed to him. “Are you sure you want this memory erased? Positive? Because you have a nice butt so I don’t really see the problem here.”

“I really wish I was as optimistic as you but I’d rather get the image of my butt out of other people’s heads.” 

“So, you’re giving me permission to erase the memory from everyone’s mind but Moon Bin’s? I feel like that’s what you’re saying.”

“Why are you being difficult?” Minhyuk sighed.

“Okay, what about this: I get the memoir to erase the memory of everyone that saw your butthole. But, when we get to Moon Bin, I erase the memory of how you got naked in front of him and just the image of you naked in whatever position you’re in. It’ll seem like he daydreamed you like this and the seed of attraction will be planted.” Jinwoo looked at Sanha for reassurance.

“I think that’s a good idea!” Sanha agreed and showed it by nodding rapidly. “It’s worth a shot at least. Technically, he didn’t see you naked under certain, unfortunate, circumstances. It’ll be like he actually wanted to see your butthole! Isn’t that what you wanted? I think we should try it.” 

“You two really are something,” Minhyuk rolled his eyes. “But I hate to say I love that idea. Do you think it’ll work? Do you think he’ll think my butt is nice if he thinks he’s imagining me naked? I hope the way I was positioned was sexy enough. If it isn’t can we erase that memory and get him to see me naked one more time? I want to look my best if that memory is gonna be stuck inside his head and replayed for a bit.”

“You’re already doing too much,” Jinwoo shook his head. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to convince the memoir to go the extra mile and do what we need them to do. I don’t know if someone will actually erase the memories. Let’s just focus on the basic first before we go wild, okay? It’ll only be a matter of time before Moon Bin sees you naked anyway so it’s not like he has to see it preemptively. To be honest, I feel like it would be easier to get a dreamwalker and have them plant the seed inside Moon Bin’s head. Should we do that? But I think planting ideas without consent is against the magic code. Dreamwalkers are pretty righteous and spiritual too so I don’t know if they would throw away their code that easy. Chronomancers, on the other hand, do not care one bite about the magic codes. So, maybe this is the easier route.”

“There you go again,” Sanha laughed out loud. “Ranting. Maybe I’m wrong. Dongmin would probably be turned off by the fact that you talk to much about nothing.”

“Eat your food.” Jinwoo snapped, throwing a cherry tomato at him. 

✵

“How does erasing memories work?” Jinwoo asked, intrigued. “All you do is touch their forehead and stuff, right?” 

Dongmin had kept his end of the deal and introduced Jinwoo to a memoir after a week of trying to track one down. Trying to come up with a demonstration with Dongmin was nice. He wasn’t too unpleasant and Jinwoo finds most people annoying anyway so the situation can be summed up to tolerable. Jinwoo didn’t expect Dongmin to be mean or anything but he also didn’t expect to enjoy his time with the guy. It was a pleasant surprise. Jinwoo was glad he didn’t get scammed. Now he was face to face with a memoir and could finally resolve Minhyuk’s little issue. The memoir seemed happy to oblige since it was Dongmin who was asking them for a favor.

“Yea,” The memoir nodded. “All you need to do is give me a general gist of whatever the memory was so I can search for it.”

“Well, I don’t know the specifics of anything,” Jinwoo began. “I do know that my little friend ended up naked in front of these people,” Jinwoo pulled his phone out of his pocket and went through his camera roll. “This guy,” He tapped his screen. “I’m pretty sure a salamander’s flame burned all his clothes off. If it’s not a salamander then it’s some other fire breathing, magic, reptilian, creature. I have the list of names right here.” 

“Great,” She took the list. “But I had a better idea in mind,” Reaching into breast pocket, the memoir took out a little crystal. “I’m gonna be busy today and I won’t have time to touch people’s foreheads to erase memories. You’ll just have to do it for me. It’s really simple,” She gestured for Jinwoo to open his palm. “All you do is put this to the person’s forehead. If the person has only seen your friend once it’ll be pretty easy to locate. Once you have it, just smack it against their head and it will erase it.”

“So, you want me to commit assault?” Jinwoo asked. 

“Yes,” The girl nodded. “I’d have to do the same thing without the crystal so it’s not like it would be any different if you didn’t have to do this. All you have to do is lie or say your hand slipped or something.”

“I’m not sure if that’s credible,” Jinwoo said, allowing the girl to drop the crystal into his hands. “I don’t think the people that attend this school are that dumb.”

The girl laughed. “Oh, trust me. Just because this a top university or whatever doesn’t mean the students here have common sense. They’re academically smart and their intelligence doesn’t expand beyond there unless they’re a valedictorian. Just return the crystal to me when you’re done,” The memoir handed the list back to Jinwoo. “There’s only ten names on the list. It won’t be too hard to get the job done. If you need me, I’m in the journalism club. Just ask for Yuna.”

Jinwoo had completely forgotten about their surroundings and fell back into reality as Yuna walked off. Just like every other day, the quad was the picture perfect scene of the ideal university. Jinwoo didn’t even know where to start. Maybe he should’ve asked Yuna if he knew who the people were because Jinwoo had no clue. This is the only time Jinwoo ever wished he was popular. It would be so much easier if people came to him rather than him having to come to other people. He does know someone that naturally attracts people though. Pulling out his phone, he decided to make a call. 

“This is the first time you used my number since I gave it to you.” The voice on the other line didn’t even let Jinwoo get a word in.

“Yea, well, there’s a first time for everything,” Jinwoo replied. “Anyway, I need your help again. The memoir you know couldn’t do any of the memory erasing today and she gave me a crystal instead that serves the same purpose. The only problem is I don’t know anyone who attends this university. You do, though. Even if you don’t people know you. So, you’re gonna lend me a helping hand one more time, okay?”

“Do I get anything in return?”

“You get my undying appreciation,” Jinwoo snapped. “Anyway, meet me on the quad. By the statue of Tiffany. We’ll start our hunt as soon as you get here.”

Dongmin was as quick and as punctual as Jinwoo expected him to be. The statue of Tiffany was pretty far from the U dorms. “You’re early. I expected you to be a little late since this is halfway across campus.”

“How did you know where I was, hmm?” Dongmin teased. “Have you been spying on me?”

“The water running the background sounded like the sink in a bathroom. So I’m assuming that you were in a dorm doing god knows what,” Jinwoo replied, unamused. “Anyway, this is the list of people that saw my friend’s butthole.”

“They saw his-”

“It’s a figure of speech,” Jinwoo interjected while handing Dongmin the list. “Do you know any of these people? It’s only ten people so you better know them.”

“I’ve heard of most of them if that counts for something.” Dongmin said while eyeing the list.

“That’s good enough for me,” Jinwoo shrugged. “Let’s start with one that you do know. Pick anyone on the list.”

“I know Moon Bin.” Dongmin suggested.

“Oh, shit,” Jinwoo realized he forgot to mention the plan to Yuna. “I forgot to ask Yuna about that. You’re smart Dongmin, right? I’m sure you are. I was wondering if I were to be able to extract everything around a certain memory except one important detail. Just for science purposes, you know?”

“That’s a weird question,” Dongmin said. “I guess you’d have to know the entire memory to pick out pieces you wanted to erase. What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” Jinwoo snapped. “Mind your business. Where does Moon Bin hang out?”

“The monster hunting club.” 

Jinwoo had never been to the monster hunting club. Jinwoo didn’t even know they had a monster hunting club. Jinwoo also thought hunting for sport went out of style a long time ago too. Apparently, they only hunt magical being that can be either detrimental to the environment or could destroy small villages in a matter of seconds. The club consisted of mostly archers and knights and mages were the minority. Jinwoo found it odd that Minhyuk would join a club that killed living creatures just for dick since his whole specialization was to be attuned with creatures. Granted, a creature did burn his clothes off and he did say that he couldn’t communicate with it so that could have definitely been more incentive to join.

The monster hunting club looked just like Jinwoo thought. It was a mess. There was a small opening in the middle with a few desks and a whiteboard. The path used to get to that area was the only thing that was somewhat clear too. The room was packed with boxes and cages filled with creatures. The ones you couldn’t see were trying their hardest to escape cardboard imprisonment. The room was filled to the brim with magic, from the creatures they were captive, and the enchanted cardboard boxes that kept them from blowing up the whole room. A lone boy stood by a cage, feeding a giant vulture-like creature that resided inside. 

“Moon Bin!” Dongmin called. 

Jinwoo didn’t want to be rude or anything, but if someone asked him to describe Moon Bin he looked like he could be a magical creature that would reside here. Not in a rude way. He was cute. His features just gave off a the feeling that you would want to keep him as a pet. Then it hit Jinwoo. Since Moon Bin looks like a cute, pocket, animal and Minhyuk’s magical abilities were centered around animals then he’d immediately take a liking to Moon Bin based on the way he looks. Underclassmen were very interesting.

“Dongmin!” Moon Bin’s face lit up as soon as he saw the face the voice belonged to. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, just wanted to visit my old friend and whatever,” Dongmin smiled and gestured to Jinwoo. “This is my friend Jinwoo. He’s a clergist,” Jinwoo was definitely not a clergist. “The clergy recently informed us that there’s been an outbreak of a virus caused by one of your…” Dongmin held onto the last part of his sentence.

Jinwoo quickly scanned the room for a label on one of the boxes. You’d think the club would be more organized since they carried so many dangerous species. Very few boxes had labels and most of the ones that had visible names were in a different language. “Spriggan!” Jinwoo said, trying to fill in the gaps Dongmin left.

“Really?” Moon Bin looked genuinely shocked. “I thought we sealed the boxes tight enough since they were apart of a special shipment. Is the corrupt it exudes highly contagious?”

“Oh, it’s only moderately contagious,” Dongmin reassured. “Have you been coughing lately? Feeling more tired than usual? Those are some common symptoms.”

“Now that you mention it, I have been coughing a lot. I always feel so tired after slaying monsters.” Anyone would feel tired after slaying monsters. Jinwoo was glad that Moon Bin didn’t seem to be the brightest monster hunter on the block.

“Ah, well, don’t worry too much. We’ve got antidote right here,” Dongmin gestured to the crystal that Jinwoo was holding. “It might hurt a little bit but if you value your life then I’d suggest you take it.”

“Well, I’ve eaten rocks before.” Moon Bin nodded.

“You don’t eat it,” Jinwoo replied. “I don’t think you should be eating rocks either but that’s besides the point,” Jinwoo waved Moon Bin over. “Give me your forehead real quick. It’ll be fast, I promise,” Jinwoo did as Yuna told him and positioned the crystal on Moon Bin’s forehead. As soon as it made contact, Jinwoo felt the gem warm under his palm. He thoughts became cloudy and he saw flashy images. It felt like a superhuman had gotten a hold of the remote and started flicking through TV channels. Jinwoo assumed this was Moon Bin’s mind. All he had to do was focus on the information Minhyuk had given him. He thought of a reptile. Sadly, that didn’t narrow down much. The club seemed to have handled many reptilian species over the years. So, Jinwoo thoughts about the salamander he ran into on the same day. Hopefully, all salamanders looked the same. The flickering stopped and it focused on an memory on a salamander coming out of its cage. Assuming this was the right one, Jinwoo smacked Moon Bin’s forehead. “There we go.”

“Ow!” Moon Bin rubbed his forehead. “Is that all? I hope that didn’t leave a mark.”

“It’s recommended that you take two doses so you don’t die,” Jinwoo made the same gesture for Moon Bin come forward. All Moon Bin needed was the still image of Minhyuk naked. Also, Jinwoo needed the rest of the memory to wipe it from every other club member’s head. When Jinwoo tried searching for the memory he erased, it wouldn’t show up. So, it was officially gone. Great. With that done, Jinwoo focused on the part where Moon Bin helped a naked Minhyuk by giving him his cloak. A detail Minhyuk forgot to mention. Jinwoo wiped it from existence. “And all done,” Jinwoo said, retracting the crystal. “Now you should be cured. Just make sure the box is sealed extra tight.”

With that mission finished, Dongmin and Jinwoo left the monster hunter club to find the rest of the members. It was easier than Jinwoo expected it to be, just like he predicted, people found Dongmin rather than Dongmin finding people. Most of the members said hi to them when they saw them in the hallway. Of course, Dongmin had to ask for their name since he wasn’t good at retaining information but that was a blessing in disguise since they wouldn't know who they were if Dongmin wasn’t dumb. Apparently, Moon Bin had already notified everyone that they had contracted a deadly disease so they didn’t mind getting smacked in the forehead with a crystal. It would’ve made more sense for Moon Bin to gather them all in the clubroom but he didn’t seem like the sharpest fang in the mouth. 

“Well, we’re all done.” Dongmin sighed.

“Yep.” Jinwoo rolled his shoulders to alleviate some pain.

“What are you gonna do if Moon Bin tells everyone you gave him a second dose?” Dongmin asked as they made their way back to the dorms.

“I’ll just tell them that since Moon Bin was in the room for an extended period of time he needed an extra dose. To avoid death and all that scary stuff.” 

“You’re a quick thinker.” Dongmin noted.

“Good observation.” 

“You’re pretty interesting, you know that?” Dongmin added.

“That’s a nice way to put it.” Jinwoo scoffed.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way,” Dongmin nudged Jinwoo. “Has anyone told you that in a bad way? I didn’t think the word interesting could be used in a negative way.”

 

“You talk too much,” Jinwoo yawned. “If you wanna say I’m weird just go ahead and say it. I’ve been called that before. Not wanting to specialize and stuff. It’s a pretty common thing to hear among us.”

“Us?”

“I’m just assuming that there’s more people like me. Wouldn’t that be nice?” Jinwoo was the type of person who always got excited when the sky was different colors. Today didn’t change that fact. “No one caring about anyone else’s business. Wish I could meet more people like me. It’d be a nice change of pace.” 

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I didn’t specialize either. Spatial magic is all I’ve got.”

That caught Jinwoo off guard. “And I thought you just had something hidden up your sleeve. I’m afraid you don’t count though. You were born with an R magic so you’ve been born into the hierarchy. I’m not saying the hierarchy is all you know but the hierarchy is all you know. Possibly.”

“Look at you, being judgemental, just like any other C would,” Dongmin ruffled Jinwoo’s hair. “Look on the bright side, at least you’re not a D.”

“Implying that people who are ranked D and below are bad,” Jinwoo scoffed for the second time this evening. “See what I mean? I’m not saying you’re a bad person of anything but you need to ditch that mindset. Not everyone has the opportunity to specialize you know.”

“I guess you’re right,” Dongmin shrugged. “I think you should specialize though. I heard that people who can scry get along well with spatialists.”

 

“I’m sure that would make you very happy wouldn’t it?” Jinwoo stuck his tongue out. “I can’t specialize now even if I somehow had a change of heart. Yooyoung is using me as the example of what not to do when you attend this university. Apparently, if they see someone like me they’ll be motivated to move up some ranks.”

“That sounds kind of mean spirited.”

“The magic system was born out of mean spirited people,” Jinwoo commented. “Do you think the people who wanted to seperate people into categories were nice? I don’t believe it for a second.”

“See, this is what I mean by you’re interesting. Not in the bad way either. I feel like I can talk with you for hours about anything.”

“Sanha tells me that a lot. I guess I am pretty interesting.” Jinwoo nodded to himself.

“Well, here’s the dorm.”

“Thank you for telling me that. I’m directionally challenged. Was it obvious?” Jinwoo rolled his eyes. “When can we work on our demonstrations?” Jinwoo asked.

“The autumn festival is soon,” Dongmin put his hand on his chin. “And I have to practice with my club so we can recruit more members. I think I should be able to in two or three weeks. Unless you miss me too much then I will come running to aid you.”

“Don’t count on it,” Jinwoo said. “Don’t try to contact me while you’re away.”

“Is that a request or a challenge?” 

“It’s a demand.” Jinwoo didn’t turn around

Jinwoo was ready to go to bed. It was only evening but walking around all day had taken a toll on him. Also, memory erasing seemed to take a lot of energy to do. Maybe that’s why he was so so exhausted. He was ready to be embraced by the comfort of his warm bed. Sanha and Jimin had different plans.

“What was that all about,” Jimin blocked the stairwell. On a normal day, Jinwoo would be able to move her since she was only two feet tall. Today was not a normal one, unfortunately. “Sanha told me you were getting comfortable with him but I didn’t expect it to be on that level.”

“What is Jimin doing here?” Jinwoo turned to Sanha. “Isn’t she supposed to be in the S dorms.”

“I just wanted to visit my prodige,” Jimin replied. “And here you are trying to date a U. I thought you thought better of yourself. You’re just like everyone else on this campus! Ugh, it’s already like the television shows. The independent low rank who doesn’t want to give in to societal standards meets the high rank who teaches them that ranks don’t matter even if you participate and making a statement is stupid. They find love along the way too.” Sanha and Jimin both squealed. 

“Okay, sure, whatever,” Jinwoo gestured for Jimin to move out of his way. “I’m exhausted so move.”

“From what?” Jimin raised an eyebrow.

“From walking you pervert.” Jinwoo smacked Jimin’s head.

“If you say so,” Jimin smirked and pressed her back against the wall, allowing Jinwoo passage. “But, you’re gonna tell me and Sanha every little detail until we get your room.” Jimin continued, trailing behind Jinwoo.

“Whatever you’re thinking of didn’t happen, trust me,” Jinwoo reassured the two. “I just had to do a favor for Minhyuk and I needed Dongmin’s help. We spent all day doing said favor and now I’m tired as fuck. That’s all that happened. So, don’t get any weird ideas.”

“I’ve seen them working on their demonstrations together,” Sanha told Jimin. “What’s about, Jinwoo? Another favor or something?”

“Dongmin said he’d help me as long as I helped him work on his demonstration,” Jinwoo put emphasis on the help part. “Nothing more than that.” Jinwoo felt like he was about to snap, luckily there were already on the second floor and approaching his dorm room.

“You really think he’d help you out of the kindness of his own heart, huh?” Jimin nodded slowly. “You’re so naive, you know that? I don’t think he’s the type of person to go out of his way to help someone without an ulterior motive.” Sanha nodded in agreement. 

“How do you know the type of person he is?”

“Someone’s getting defensive, woah!” Jimin nudged Sanha’s side. “Look at him getting worked up for his little friend. How cute.”

“I wasn’t being defensive!”

“You’re yelling.” Jimin smirked.

“I am not yell-” Jinwoo stopped himself. “You know what? Nevermind. We’re at my door. You said you’d piss off once we reached it. So, goodbye and I hope you both have, very, vivid nightmares,” Jinwoo said as he put the keys into the lock. “And don’t go spreading baseless rumors around campus, got it? I know how you are Jimin. I will drown you,” Jinwoo looked Jimin straight in the eyes as he said. “Bad night.” He said as he slammed the door in both of their faces. Today had been a very long day. Jimin seemed to be an expert at increasing the day’s timespan and decreasing his lifespan.

 

✵

A month had passed by quicker than Jinwoo had expected. Sanha and Jimin were both incompetent so he had to help Sanha with his demonstration while making sure Jimin didn’t fail her magical theory class. Someone would think that Sanha’s senior should be helping him with his demonstration but apparently he was busy fucking around with girls around the campus. The same could be said for Jimin. She could’ve just asked a tutor but she found a hobby in annoying Jinwoo and threatened to tell Yooyoung if Jinwoo turned her down. So that’s how Jinwoo’s entire October looked. He didn’t mind though. October going by faster meant that November would roll in at the same speed. It was getting chillier and aquamancer loved when it got cold. Maybe it was because their ties were close with cryomancy, Jinwoo didn’t really know. He didn’t care either. All he knew was that it was cold now meaning the best part of the year was starting. Surprisingly, he found time to relax in between all the parenting he had to do. It was nice to go outside and breathe the fresh air. The university didn’t seem so bad when it got like this. No one was outside since everyone preferred to stay inside. Jinwoo seemed like the only one in the university who enjoyed some solitude. 

“Funny seeing you here,” Jinwoo hadn’t heard that voice in awhile. In a month and a week to be exact. “I guess someone like you would enjoy the cold and solitude.”

“What can I say? Aquamancers love things that are similar to depths of any body of water,” Jinwoo shrugged, not facing Dongmin. He opted to enjoy the equally pleasant view of the quad. The trees were dying. It was ironic that death could be so pretty. The leaves were different hues of oranges and yellows. He preferred it over the green. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be inside? Enjoying the warmth and all. Or do spatialists like seasons that resemble the vacuum of space?”

“It could be that?” Dongmin shrugged. “Sometimes I just like to get away from the crowd.”

“Aww,” Jinwoo pouted. “Poor, little, pretty boy has to get away from the crowd. Popular is taking a toll on him,” Jinwoo feigned a baby’s voice. “Typical. You’re a walking stereotype, you know?”

“Is there something wrong with that?”

“No, it was just an observation.” Jinwoo shrugged.

“What are you doing for the holidays?”

“Staying here,” Jinwoo sighed. “If I go home my parents will bug me about specializing and finding a partner and all that parenting stuff. It’s annoying. I’ll see them when I graduate anyway.”

“Great!” Dongmin beamed.

“My stressful home situation is a good thing?”

“Well, no. But, yes. I’m staying too so that means we can work on the demonstration together.” Dongmin explained.

“Or we could take a break from all of that and just relax.” Jinwoo suggested.

“See, this is why you’re the example of what not to do.”

Jinwoo shrugged. “What can I say old habits die hard.”

“Have you ever thought about reading motivational books?”

“No.”

“I can see that,” Dongmin laughed. “Anyway, I’ve got classes to get to. I’ll text you later though.”

“Please, don’t.” 

Jinwoo was left in silence for a few more hours until classes started. It really gave him time to think about the relationship with his family. He loves his parents, he really does, but they got on his last nerve sometimes. They were ecstatic when Jinwoo got accepted to the university, they were ready for their son to finally do something instead of sitting around all day. Of course, once he got here, Jinwoo ended up doing nothing. His parents looked visibly upset when he told them that he didn’t want to specialize and wouldn’t try to achieve a magic above aquamancy. Jinwoo was just passing his time here, enjoying the life of a student while he still could. So, if Jinwoo went home he’d have to deal with nagging parents and comparisons to his siblings. Jinwoo decided on not going home until summer for now. Once his family realizes they haven’t seen him in forever they’ll focus on catching up rather than trying to convince him to do something with his life. 

“Why are you staring out into the cold all weirdly?” Minhyuk’s voice broke Jinwoo’s thoughts into pieces. “Let’s go inside it’s freezing out here.”

“The druid who doesn’t like the cold seasons out and about,” Jinwoo turned to face Minhyuk. “Shouldn’t you be inside anyway? What are you doing outside? Can’t you hear all the organic life dying and stuff?”

“Druids can just block it out,” Minhyuk was shivering even with a sizeable coat, gloves, and a beanie. “Don’t I owe you free meals for the rest of the year? I came to look for you so we can go eat something in the comfort of the indoors.”

“A druid wanting to be inside,” Jinwoo scoffed. “Now I’ve heard it all,” Jinwoo took his hands out of his coat pockets and pat Minhyuk on the back as he made his way to the cafeteria. “Come on, I don’t want to have to be the on to defrost you if you freeze.” 

“Aquamancers can do that?”

“Yes, water can melt ice. Anyway, how are you and Moon Bin. I hope everything is going well between you two.” Jinwoo said, changing the subject.

“He gets really nervous around me,” Minhyuk said excitedly, it looks like that was enough to shake the coldness off. “I think it worked. Do you think he thinks about me often? I can’t wait to date him and do all kinds of cute couple stuff. Then we’re gonna get married and-”

“How about you try to take it slow.” Jinwoo suggested.

“Like you and Dongmin?” Minhyuk asked, opening the door to the cafeteria. “You guys are old so that’s why you guys have the luxury of doing things like that. Me? I’m young. I need to just jump right into it.”

“I hate to be the one to tell you this but that’s unhealthy,” Jinwoo said. “You should definitely just take it slow. We already, technically, planted something into his head to get him to like you,” Jinwoo pointed out. “It should just develop from there so don’t worry too much about it. And you won’t get married as soon as you think, I hate to say that. Maybe you should lower the bar a bit for your own sake.”

“The guy who’s never experienced love is giving me love advice,” Minhyuk scoffed. “You’re not even developing your relationship with Dongmin and you want to tell me how to run my relationship? Typical.”

“Shut up and go buy our food.” Jinwoo shooed Minhyuk to the line.

Jinwoo was glad to enjoy a few more minutes of silence. “You’re Jinwoo, right?” Emphasis on the wise part.

Jinwoo looked up to see the owner of the voice. It wasn’t someone he recognized but she was pretty. Maybe too pretty. Too pretty to be talking to someone like Jinwoo. Not that Jinwoo was ugly or anything, he didn’t even think he was ugly. Pretty people seemed to only talk to people who were equally as pretty and, usually, equally as successful. Maybe it was Jinwoo’s curse to be surrounded by pretty people who were higher ranks than him. He could already tell this girl was a higher rank just by the power she was radianting. Maybe an R or possibly and L. Definitely not a U. She’s only talking to Jinwoo because she wants something. “Yea, what about it?”

“Great,” The girl smiled and sat down on the seat directly across from Jinwoo. “I’m Jiwoo. Most people around call me Chuu. You wanna know why?” Chuu leaned over the table. She looked incredibly excited to tell Jinwoo about herself.

“No.”

“Why not?” She pouted.

“Did you wanna ask me something? I hope that’s not what you wanted to ask me. Are you struggling with aquamancy on the rank advancement tests? You’re shit out of luck then because I don’t know half the stuff that’s on that thing.”

“No, no, no,” Chuu or Jiwoo or whatever shook her head. “You’ve became good friends with Dongmin in a few months, right?”  
“Oh, I see,” Jinwoo nodded. “You want to know everything about him, right?”

“Yes!” Chuu beamed. 

“Pay me.”

“What?” Chuu looked taken aback.

“Pay me,” Jinwoo shrugged. “Information isn’t cheap and neither are relationships. If you pay me I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Do you want to know his favorite movie? That’s five mana. If you want to know what the movie is about and its major themes and plot points to discuss with Dongmin, that’s an additional ten. I think all the favorites would follow the same rank. As for personal information like height and weight,” Jinwoo tapped his chin with his index finger. “I think that’ll be seven mana. If you want his address, I can’t help you with that. But, if you really wanted it, it could be arranged.”

“Well,” Chuu took out five mana from her purse. The tiny orbs glittered in her tiny palm “I have five mana on me right now. Can you tell me his favorite song?” She slide the money across the table.

“Of course,” Jinwoo picked it up and pretended to check for any signs of it being counterfeit to be annoying. “Right now, it would have to be a song called Girl Front. It’s pretty popular right now. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. But, I think it would’ve been better to ask who his favorite artist was so you’d have something better to talk about. Just bring me five mana and all that will be at your disposal.”

“Thank you so much!” Chuu gave Jinwoo one last beam. “I’ll be back with more money so don’t give that information to anyone else, okay?”

“You got it.”

“Who was that?” Minhyuk stared at the back of Chuu’s head as she skipped away.

“Some girl named Jiwoo. She just needed my help with something.”

“Needed your help?” Minhyuk put emphasis on the your. “I don’t believe it. If someone needed help with aquamancy they’re better off asking Yooyoung. Something’s up here,” Minhyuk eyed Jinwoo as he rounded the table to face him. “You’re not doing anything shady are you? I feel like you’re doing something shady.”

“Nothing more shady than making a boy imagine you naked by erasing certain parts of his memory without his permission,” Jinwoo snapped as he reached over to grab his tray. “So, don’t think about it too much, okay?”

The rest the day was uneventful. Jinwoo had to attend class and that’s what his day consisted of. Jinwoo and Dongmin couldn’t practice on their demonstration today because he needed to give an orientation to the new members of the club. So, Jinwoo’s day was over. That was another reason why Jinwoo liked the colder seasons. The days were getting shorter meaning that he could be asleep more and awake less. It sounded like the ideal time of year. People would already be inside and no one would try to talk to him on his way to the dorms. Or, that’s what he thought.

“Jinwoo!” A voice squealed. “Jinwoo! It’s me Chuu! Also known as Jiwoo! Do you remember me?” Jinwoo turned around to see a tiny girl and her taller friend waving him down. Maybe this day wouldn’t be so short after all. “I’m glad you heard me,” Chuu sighed in relief as she walked up to Jinwoo. She looked out of breath. “I have another twenty mana,” Chuu bent down and put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. “This is my friend Jinsoul. She’s a freshman. An aeromancer. Was wondering if you could teach her some aquamancy. Trying to plan out specialization in advance.”

“With twenty mana. You can find out a few things. What would you like to know?” Jinwoo asked.

“His favorite artist and movie and his favorite food and his favorite color.” Chuu was still out of breath. She was risking her life for dick.

Jinwoo gave all the information like he was asked to. He was surprised that he knew so much about Dongmin. He was just going to make a few things up but it looked like he wouldn’t have to. Maybe he was hanging out with Dongmin too much. “And, it was Jinsoul, right? I think you’re better off finding a better aquamancer.” 

“But, I heard you were really good!” Jinsoul protested. “Everyone says you could be amazing if you tried harder. I only need to learn the basics anyway. I’m just trying to become a cryomancer. If you could teach me the basics of aquamancy I could advance really fast.” 

“Who’s everyone?” Jinwoo asked. 

“Well, everyone,” Chuu replied. She seemed like she could function properly now. “Since you’ve been hanging out with Dongmin it was only natural for people to notice you. Lots of people say the same thing. He could be so powerful but he’s lazy. All that stuff. So, when I said I needed to see you for something, Jinsoul jumped at the chance to come talk to you too. 

“So,” Jinsoul continued. “If you’re not busy, could you teach me?”

“I guess I could,” Jinwoo shrugged. “It’ll cost you. But I’ll give you a discount since you’re a freshman.”

Chuu and Jinsoul both squealed. “Thank you so much!” They both thanked him and ran off to wherever young girls go. 

✵

For next few weeks until their holiday breakt started, Jinwoo started to break into a routine. Jinsoul joins Dongmin and Jinwoo in the morning so Jinwoo could teach her aquamancy. Jinsoul didn’t seem to be the brightest girl to exist. She picked up on things very slowly and did a lot of dumb things. Jinwoo didn’t know if this was intentional or not. Maybe this was a trial. Yooyoung probably sent Jinsoul to Jinwoo to test his patience. But, he had to admit, that teaching someone was fun. It was nice to see someone pull of something they were struggling with until they came to you. It also gave Jinwoo a better idea of what to show for his demonstration. He realizes that he has to show all of his power and his limits. Then, make it obvious that he could above his limits and choose not to. Once Jinsoul leaves, it’s just Dongmin and Jinwoo practicing their demonstration and talking. Over the past few months, Dongmin had become a good friend. Jinwoo would’ve never guessed he would be able to get along with him so well but here he was holding a conversation with him. Maybe Minhyuk and Sanha were right. Maybe there was something there. Maybe he just was being delusional. He liked the former option more.

 

“Are you ready for the holidays?” Dongmin asked, tossing an apple in his hand. “It’s next week.”

“Yea,” Jinwoo replied. “Jinsoul is staying at school too so I can teach her aquamancy. January looks like it’s gonna be a long month. At least you actually get to take your month off. I’m working here in January and working harder in February.”

“How did you meet Jinsoul anyway?” Dongmin asked.

“Oh, she just found me,” Jinwoo lied. Chuu had been hitting on Dongmin very hard recently and it would look suspicious if he suddenly knew who Chuu was. “She needed help with aquamancy and apparently I’ve been the talk of the town recently. So, she found me through that. I guess hanging out with you means I’m popular.” 

“I guess so,” Dongmin replied. “Do you know a girl named Chuu? She’s been bothering me a lot recently. Not that she’s annoying or anything. She’s just really aggressive with her advances.”

“She’s Jinsoul’s friend so I know of her. I’ve seen her a few time when I meet up with Jinsoul. I don’t really know her like that. She seems nice though.” Jinwoo shrugged. He started to clean the floors of the gym out of habit.

“Really?” Dongmin asked. “She seemed to know you. Apparently, you seemed to know a lot about me too.”  
Shit. “What do you mean by that?” Jinwoo asked.

“I mean that you seemed to know a lot about me. Chuu knows you. It’s weird that she knows so much about me.”

“Yea, that is weird.” Jinwoo needed to look at something that wasn’t Dongmin. Too bad that the gym was pretty empty besides the bleachers.

“So, you were selling information to her,” Dongmin said. The usual playfulness in his voice was gone. “I think you know she has a big mouth if you’ve been working with her for this long. I guess all those things I told you as a friend didn’t mean much to you.”

“You’re being dramatic,” Jinwoo sighed. “It’s not like I sold your address or anything like that.”

“She said you were going to if you asked.”

“Clearly, that was a joke.” 

“You do realize you put a price on our friendship, right? I know you don’t care about a lot of thing but you should care about the relationships you have with other people.” 

“Don’t even try to scold me,” Jinwoo snapped. “Do you think I’m dumb? It’s pretty obvious that you like me. It’s kind of obvious that you started our friendship because you liked me. What did you think? You could just be nice to me or something and I would be your boyfriend just because your a high rank? Don’t make me laugh. You’re just as bad as me. Yea, I sold you out or whatever. But at least I don’t think I’m so all mighty and powerful that I think that I can just be nice to someone and expect them to fuck me?”

“Is that how you think of me? Do you really think of me like that?” Dongmin asked.

“Oh, please,” Jinwoo rolled his eyes. “Don’t even pretend to be the victim here. Remember that little comment you made about D ranks? It’s obvious that you don’t value lower ranks. I was right about you. You’re just like everyone else at this school.”

“Yea and everyone was right about you. You’re just as bad and as lazy as everyone says you are,” Dongmin snapped back. “You act like people with higher ranks think they’re so special when you think you’re just as special for not specializing.”

“Wow,” Jinwoo nodded. “That’s what you think of me? This is what I mean. You wanted to pretend to be the one who’s hurt here and then you go and said. Whatever,” Jinwoo made his way to the exit. “Have a good holiday.”

“So, you guys fought?” Jimin asked. Jinwoo had texted Jimin as soon as he was outside to go meet in the dorm common room. “Oh, I see. This is the second act.”

“The what?” Jinwoo asked.

“The act before the resolution. The first act sets up the presence and the second act expands on that then introduces some drama so that things get interesting. The third act is where you guys fuck. So, we’re one step closer to that. Don’t worry. You said some things, he said some things. Everyone says hurtful things when they’re angry. Also, it was fucked up of you to go and put a price tag on your relationship. I’m siding with him on this one.”

“So, you’re taking sides now?”

“Yes,” Jimin replied. “You’re an asshole and you should be the one to apologize since you were the one who started the insulting and assumptions first. Dongmin only wanted to hurt your feelings because you hurt his. I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean the things he said. He thinks highly of you, you know?” 

“Whatever.” Jinwoo sighed.

That week went by fast. Maybe it’s because the winter days are shorter or it was because the amount of sleep Jinwoo did. Dongmin and Jinwoo were on bad terms, obviously. So, outside of training Jinsoul, Jinwoo didn’t have much to do over the holiday break. The only thing he really could do was reflect on the first half of the year and his action. Jinwoo did value his friendship with Dongmin but it’s not like he was harming their relationship when he told Chuu everything she needed to know. Maybe it became a problem when everyone started to know every detail about Dongmin. But, shouldn’t he be used to that? If he was popular people would know a lot about him automatically. It could be that Dongmin trusted Jinwoo and he went and did that. It was probably because he liked Jinwoo too. Jinwoo didn’t know. Jinwoo didn’t want to care. But he did. Jinwoo doesn’t know how to apologize either. He was clearly in the wrong but it was hard to come up with a sincere apology when it involves telling people his favorite things for money.

So, he decided not to think about it. He focused on training Jinsoul. She was picking up aquamancy pretty well. They’d be finished soon. The rest of February would be dedicated to training her. Jinsoul was Jinwoo’s only company now. Well, the only consistent company he had. Chuu would visit sometimes, apologizing that she let the information slip. She seemed even more crestfallen thann Jinwoo. She always cried about how Dongmin hates her. Oh well, he was in the same boat. Once February was done, Jinsoul had become proficient in aquamancy and was opting for self study to improve. As a parting gift, she invited him as her date to the award festival that was happening at the end of march. It was dedicated to people who have achieved the highest marks or improved greatly. Jinsoul was the latter. He gladly accepted. Yooyoung would finally have something good to say about him. 

“Who invited you to this thing again?” Sanha asked. He was going with Minhyuk and was waiting in Jinwoo’s room while he got ready.

“The girl I was training in aquamancy,” Jinwoo repeated. “Jinsoul. Chuu had already got invited by some dude so she asked me as a token of gratitude. I have to show Yooyoung I’m not as useless as she thinks.”

“You could’ve gone with Dongmin if you didn’t make him mad and stuff,” Sanha commented. “You guys would’ve been the best couple there.”

“Yea, yea, yea, whatever,” Jinwoo made a vague gesture of dismissal. “I already know Jimin sent you to convince me to apologize to him but I’ve already made up my mind, okay? Now, let’s go.”

When all the events are thrown in the gym or on the quad, it was a nice change of pace for something to take place in their theater. They had cleared out all the regular seats with air magic and now they were tables laid out below the stage. Well, that’s what Jinwoo heard since he was still waiting outside for Jinsoul. She was running late and Jinwoo was starting to get impatient. He can’t say that he didn’t expect this but he wanted the girl to be a bit more punctual since this was a formal event. 

“I think she stood you up.” Sanha said. 

“Jinwoo got stood up?” Minhyuk asked. He had already been outside the theater waiting for Sanha.

“I didn’t get stood up,” Jinwoo snapped. “She’s just late. It’s a common thing for her, you know.”

“This wouldn’t have happened if you went with Dongmin.” Minhyuk chimed.

“What’s done is done,” Jinwoo replied. “He’s already been getting comfy with Jisoo anyway. He basically proved my point. Playing victim and whatever. You’ve seen them, right? Always hanging out together. He had the nerve to tell me all those things when I was right. Good for them though. I’m a good person. I can congratulate people and not hold grudges. They’re a good looking couple too. I think you guys would prefer them over me and him when you guys seen them. Tall, good looking, high ranks, and whatever else you can think of. He wouldn’t want to be with someone as lazy and as careless as me. He even called me those things himself, you know? I’m not mad or anything. I expected this honestly. And he can do whatever he wants because it’s not like we had a relationship beyond good friends anyway. You guys are weird for thinking that.”

“Right.” Minhyuk said.

“You sure you’re okay, Jinwoo?” Sanha asked. 

“Like I said I’m fine.” Jinwoo folded his arms.

“Jinwoo!” Jinsoul was holding Chuu’s hand as she came running towards the three. “Sorry, I’m late. Chuu’s date dumped her. She wouldn’t stop crying unless I invited her as my date. She said it would be a waste to be all dressed up and go nowhere. I’m really sorry.” 

“That’s okay,” Jinwoo responded. “It means I can get out of this tux earlier.”

“Actually,” Jinsoul said. “I also found someone else who got stood up by their date who’s interested. I mean, he didn’t get stood up. His date’s friend got stood up and she told her that she had to come with her and it’s just this vicious cycle. You don’t have to waste that nice tux you’re in.”

“Who is it?” Jinwoo asked.

“Me.” Jinwoo should’ve expected this. His life had turned into a cliche the moment he had met Dongmin. 

Jinwoo sighed and turned to face Dongmin. “Really? You really want to attend this thing with me? We’re really doing this?” Jinwoo turned back to Jinsoul. “Seriously?”

“Well, I really wanted you to see me get my award and they weren’t any other options. No one wants to give up their tickets because they’re going with family rather than friends. I don’t think Dongmin minds,” Jinsoul looked at Dongmin. “Do you?”

“I don’t.”

“He’s lying.” Jinwoo said.

“Okay,” Minhyuk clapped his hands. “Now that it’s all settled, how about we go inside and enjoy some free food?” 

Minhyuk didn’t wait for a response and dragged Sanha inside. Chuu and Jinsoul followed their path leaving Dongmin and Jinwoo to do the same. The theater looked nice on the inside. The school mad the lux use their magic to have orbs giving off dim light float in the air. It gave the entire place a warm feeling. The murmuring of idle chatter and the sound of glasses being clinked and utensils being scrapped against plates made him feel like he was in a movie. Weaving through the maze of tables, Jinwoo went to the buffet to pile his plate with food. It was free after all. Jinwoo felt a little embarrassed walking to the table with Dongmin. His plate was piled with food and Dongmin’s wasn’t. Maybe no one would notice. 

It was also unfortunate that Dongmin was seated with people he knew. It meant that Jinwoo did not know these people. It was going to be a long and awkward night. Oh well, at least they were given free food. Jinwoo began to dig into his food, ignoring whatever conversation his table was having. The food was pretty good but it was taste better if he was drunk off his ass. Every time a waiter came by with a tray full of champagne took a glass. Or two. It tasted divine. Jinwoo had never tasted anything like it. Crisp to the touch but silky as he swallowed. It was like an adult apple cider. This was going to be his drink of choice. When the waiters started bring around bottles of it Jinwoo jumped at the chance to for a bottle, ignoring the side eyes we was getting from the table. He was enjoying himself.

“Maybe you should calm down on the drinks, Jinwoo.” Dongmin suggested.

“Maybe you should fuck off,” Jinwoo snapped. He was already frustrated because he couldn’t get the cork off the bottle. He could use water magic to make a cork but he wasn’t thinking straight now. “Can you open this for me?” Jinwoo held out the bottle for Dongmin to see. “Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

“You’re drink.”

“Barely,” Jinwoo scoffed. “I can still use magic,” Jinwoo focus his eyes on the cork. The champagne still had water in it since it was a liquid so it would be easily to will it out the bottle. Of course, he didn’t calculate the cork shooting out of the bottle and hitting him in the eye. Maybe he was a little drunk. “Fuck!” Jinwoo covered his eye as the champagne spilled all over his clothes. Maybe getting drunk wasn’t a good idea but being tipsy made Jinwoo laughed out loud at the situation. Jinwoo quickly pulled up a laughing Jinwoo and dragged him outside. 

“Let me see your eye,” Dongmin demanded. “I can heal it.”

“I thought you said you weren’t specializing. You’re becoming a rift healer,” Jinwoo gasped, eye still covered. “Wow, you’re going for interdimensional affairs? You’re so smart. Did you know that Dongmin? You’re, really, really smart.”

“Just let me see your eye. Please.” Dongmin asked.

“Fine.” Jinwoo gave in and removed his hand from his eye. It was just as bad Dongmin suspected. A black eye. A beginner clergist could heal this easily. Jinwoo just had to cooperate and stay still which didn’t seem like it was going to happen.

Dongmin cupped Jinwoo’s face with his hand and looked him straight in the eye. Pressing their foreheads together, Dongmin chanted a healing incantation which healed the black eye immediately. But he wanted to stay like this for a bit.

“You’re too close,” Jinwoo said through a squished mouth. “Are you sure there was something wrong me or did you just want to do that? You’re a creep.”

“Come on, let’s go inside.” Dongmin suggested retracting his forehead. 

“We’re really gonna go inside? After all of that? We’ve got the perfect chance to talk out our issues now,” Jinwoo said. “I think I will be the first to apologize. Not only for ruining the evening but for saying all those mean things to you a while back. It wasn’t my place to say those things to you. I was just angry you called me out on something I did wrong. I had to look at things through your point of view to see why you were really mad. So, I’m sorry.”

“Are you sure you’re drunk?”

“The cork beating the shit out of me sobered me up.” Jinwoo replied.

“Well, I wanna apologize too-”

“I already know that you’re sorry. You don’t need to explain yourself to me. I get why you said the things you said. I should be the one feeling the need to apologize here. So, just save it, okay?”

“Okay.”

“So, where do we go from here?”

“What do you mean.” Dongmin raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, you like me. I like you. What do we from there? Kiss? Date? Fuck? I can get with all three if you’d like. Not really sure what to do in this situation.” 

“I think the first two options sound the best.”

✵

“And then you guys made out?” Jimin asked. The two of them were sitting down in the dorm common room like usual. Jinwoo had told Jimin every detail of what happened the other night. Jinwoo and Dongmin’s relationship had become a hot topic. The entire student body was devastated now that he was off the market. Everyone kind of expected that it would happen but no one was ready for it to actually happen. Jinwoo doesn’t know how so many people could sense the sexual tension in their own relationship but that was another question for another day. Jimin had more pressing questions to ask him anyway.

“Yep.” Jinwoo replied. 

“Nothing more than that?”

“No, Jimin,” Jinwoo sighed. “We did not have sex. Maybe in the future we will. For no we’re just dating.”

“Wow,” Jimin nodded slowly. “At the start of the year you were all like I hate ranks blah blah blah. Now look at you. Dating a U. Who would’ve thought that’s what this would come to.”

“You act like I have to change my ideology just because I’m dating him,” Jinwoo replied. “I’m sticking with my previous philosophy. Dick won’t change my mind. This year has been kind of crazy, hasn’t it? I’m exhausted. I haven’t had this much to do since freshman year. I don’t know how younger people do it. I wonder if Minhyuk and Moon Bin are the energetic and happy couple to juxtapose my own relationship.”

“I’m gonna pretend like I know what you’re saying,” Jimin replied. “What are you doing over spring break? Going to see your family for once? I’m sure they miss you.”

“They’re gonna have to keep missing me because Dongmin invited me to hang out during spring break. Told me something about an island? Do you think he owns it? He’s rich, right? I think I should use that to my advantage.” 

“So, are you guys gonna have sex or not? The public wants to know what it feels like and how big it is.”

“He wasn’t even comfortable letting me sell information about him. Do you really think he’d let me talk about our sex life?”

“You’re admitting that you plan on having a sex life then?”

“Goodbye, Jimin.” Jinwoo said, getting up from the couch. He couldn’t take another second of her perversions. 

“Where are you going?” Jimin laughed.

“To see my boyfriend.”

**Author's Note:**

> might make this into a whole series might no we'll see hope u luved it i had fun writing it


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